Henry David Thoreau once said “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” More often than not, we see our surroundings for what they are rather than dig for a deeper meaning. With this in mind, I could look at a tree and see a tree, but if a deeper meaning is sought out, it can symbolize growth, strength, or even life. As someone who loves to write, I started to look beneath the surface to find that seeing past the face value is worth more than mere words can describe.

I initially took this photo because of the way the light shone through the trees, capturing the image in a beautiful way. It’s pretty ironic considering I happened to be standing in the middle of a cemetery. It could even be considered morbid to find beauty in a place of death, but that never stopped anyone before. Worry not, because upon a further search beneath the surface, my deeper meaning for this image is one of hope, support, and a sense of togetherness.

For those of us who are part of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College community, we have this unspoken agreement that without Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, we probably would not be where we are today, especially on a college campus as beautiful as this one. If we think of this in a literal sense, we are undoubtedly standing on the bones of the founders who worked long and hard to keep this place of belonging on its feet. The whole foundation underneath our very feet, in a nonliteral sense, are those buried not far from where we receive priceless knowledge to help us grow into who we are meant to be. We are reaping the benefits of their labors and continuing on their legacy by doing great things in the name of what they worked hard to build here. If that doesn’t leave you with the feeling of hope, then perhaps this isn’t the place for you.

In our Woods Core class, a class I took during my freshman year, we focused on spirituality, social justice, women’s issues, and sustainability, which set us apart from many other colleges. We are still learning to take what we know and apply it to certain situations to turn it toward something greater. The fact that this college has a long history of being an all-female campus, tells me that we have a strong foundation of independence that requires us to escape our comfort zone in order to work together towards something far greater than we could possibly receive anywhere else. WIth males now able to attend here tells that while we value traditions, we are also open to change and challenges that may arise from that change.

Take a look at the other headstones in the picture and apply it to what we already know about the history of the college. When Saint Mother Theodore Guerin first stepped on this plot of land set aside for this college, it was nothing but a small cabin in the woods. It was a very uncomfortable and daunting task to turn what she saw into what we see today, but with a lot of helping hands and support, they were able to succeed in their goal. Without all of their helping hands, the college probably would have suffered terribly, but it didn’t because she had all those people who shared the same dreams and values. I would even go as far to say that we have our own culture here that brings us together.

During orientation week of my freshman year, we had a day where we had a bonfire as we shared stories, ate s’mores, and played many game together as a bonding experience. The moment that stuck out to me happened to be the moment when one of the girls lost her class ring out in grassy area at night. Picture this, at least thirty or more of us, upperclassmen and freshman alike, with phone flashlights out as we worked together to find a small ring hidden amongst the grass at ten o’clock at night. We lined up next to each other as we combed the area again and again. Eventually the ring was found and we all cheered before heading inside to rest up for the next day of activities, but I will never forget that feeling of working together as we had to find the girl’s class ring. Beneath the surface, there is always something more to see and what is to be seen is up to the eye of the beholder. We all have something to contribute based on what we perceive and understand about our surroundings and when we look beneath the surface, we find ourselves a little bit more.